Very weird monitor problem

[Apheleon]

Ok this has been bothering me for almost 5 months now, even though my computer is fine, this is the ONE thing I just can't get over.

If say I have my computer turned off with my monitor in suspend mode, and I keep my computer turned off for over an hour (or maybe while I'm in bed)....when I go to turn on my computer for the first time, my monitor seems brighter.

However this isn't just my problem. Say I was to go into a Direct3D enabled game or do something graphically intensive (right after I turn on my comp/monitor) about 5 minutes into ANY Direct3D enabled game my monitor spazzes out and displays all these nasty looking choppy blocks. The blocks are all different colors and stuff.

The only thing other than the blocks that show, is a BIGGER block which represents my mouse cursor. I can still hear the music in the game, but however, if say I was to GUESS where the exit button was and click on it, it still wont exit the game. My computer TOTALLY freezes and the only way around this is to turn off my computer. The RESET BUTTON doesnt even function! And when I press my power button, it doesnt instantly turn off either. I have to hold it down for like 3 seconds before it shuts off. Then I have to turn on my computer again, and it usually works the second time around, or assuming I waited longer for my monitor. This isn't just ONE game either, so it's not that, and I use DirectX 9.0a and I have my latest video card BIOS.

No matter what, I will get choppy blocks if I turn on my monitor after it has been off for over an hour and if I do something graphically intensive, such as a Direct3D game.

Ok so this is what I do to get over this situation. I simply wait. As I honestly think my monitor needs to "WARM UP". See like I said, my monitor seems brighter after I turn it on. So I wait about 15-20 minutes (sometimes 30 minutes) and I notice that my monitor has "WARMED UP" and now the brightness looks back to normal and things go as planned. Things work fine.

Why is this? I have my refresh rates set perfectly. I have used NVRefresh tool before, but since the new Nvidia drivers were released, I use their driver utility to change my D3D refresh rates.

So it cant be a refresh rate problem.

What is the deal. My system isnt overclocked (and it should be running even cooler since I just turned on my computer, since thats when the problem happens)

So either way I wait for a good 30 minutes after I turn on my computer before I do anything graphically intensive or I keep my computer/monitor on the whole time.

Does anyone know or has anyone ever heard of needing to "WARM UP YOUR MONITOR"?

What causes this? Do most monitors need to warm up these days? Whats the deal here.

Is there any way around this? My specs are below (monitor and video card etc). Thanks to anyone.

[Paradigm]

The only thing I can think of is try re-installing the drivers. I had some problems with my monitor and I tried everything, then I re-installed the drivers and it worked fine. It's worth a shot.

[ryandinan]

This definitely sounds like a video card problem - not a monitor problem.
Can you borrow a friends video card to test to see if the problems go away?

-Ryan

[Apheleon]

Thanks, I'll try that. I was thinking maybe it could be dust in my video card fan, thus taking it awhile to start spinning fully.

I'll try what you all said and see if it could be a dust problem too.

[AMDHyp]

I can probably fix the reset button problem...

control panel
Power options advanced

In there you should be able to turn off the wait 3 second then turn off and you should also be able to set what your sleep and your reset button do.